


How He Asked

by be11atrixthestrange



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Brothers, F/M, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:07:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27094009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/be11atrixthestrange/pseuds/be11atrixthestrange
Summary: Ron shows up unexpectely at Shell Cottage hoping for some advice.
Relationships: Fleur Delacour/Bill Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 5
Kudos: 39





	How He Asked

Bill was alarmed by the bright green light of the fireplace when it ignited. It was a Tuesday night, and he wasn’t expecting any visitors. Fleur had just put baby Victoire to bed, and had taken to reading a book by the fire with a glass of wine. Bill was looking forward to some quality time with his wife, which could be hard to come by with an infant. 

He was in the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of firewhiskey when the fireplace began to glow. He started to panic at first— a leftover reaction from the war, when almost every floo visitor brought bad news. But he breathed a sigh of relief when his youngest brother stepped out of the fireplace and into the kitchen. 

“Hi!” said Ron cheerfully. 

Bill sighed. “Hi Ron.” 

“Are you busy?” Ron asked with a hopeful note in his voice. 

Bill wanted to answer with the truth, that yes, he was busy. He had really been looking forward to his night off with Fleur, with a glass or two of firewhiskey, and a warm cozy fire…

But something in Ron’s earnest expression caused him not to. “Ron, is everything ok?”

“Yeah, brilliant actually. Can I have a seat in the living room?” Ron hardly waited for an affirmative before pulling off his coat, slipping out of his shoes, and shuffling right on into the living room. “Hi Fleur, how are you?”

“Ron, keep your voice down because the baby’s sleeping,” said Bill as he poured a second glass of firewhiskey for Ron. 

“Sorry!” said Ron, a little too loudly. “Oh shit.. I meant ‘sorry!’” he added in a whisper. 

“It’s ok.” Bill took a seat in the armchair across from Ron, while Fleur announced that she was heading to bed. He sent an apologetic look her way, which she returned with a soft and understanding smile. 

“I didn’t mean to interrupt anything—“ Ron started.

“You didn’t, really,” lied Bill. “But why the late night visit?”

Ron took a swig of his whiskey. “Hermione comes back tomorrow. I wanted to talk to you before I see her.” 

Bill nodded. He was aware that Hermione had spent the last four days on a work-related trip, and Ron was probably looking forward to their reunion tomorrow. “Ok. What about?”

Ron reached into his pocket. He hesitated for a moment before pulling out a small velvet box. 

Bill smiled. “Ahh. I was wondering when that was going to happen.” He reached over to take the small box from Ron, opening it to reveal a beautiful ruby and diamond ring. 

“Was I that obvious?” asked Ron. 

“To everyone but yourselves,” smiled Bill. “It’s a beautiful ring, Ron. Is it goblin made?”

“No, I actually got it from a muggle shop that her parents recommended.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you.” He gently placed the ring back into the box and handed it back to Ron. “Have you figured out how to ask?”

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. How did you ask Fleur?”

Bill smiled. “I’m not sure you want to take my advice here.”

Ron looked confused. “Why not?”

Bill grinned at the memory. “Because I did a shite job asking her, that’s why.”

Ron motioned to the room around him. “Appears to have worked out well.”

“That’s just it. If it’s the right girl, she isn’t going to care how you ask. She’ll just be glad you did.”

Ron nodded. “You have me curious.”

“Fine,” said Bill, downing the rest of his firewhiskey. He placed his glass loudly back onto the table and leaned back in his chair. “I had a huge plan. I had the ring picked out. I’d reserved us a table at the nicest restaurant in London. I’d even hired a photographer to take photos of the whole ordeal.”

Ron raised his eyebrows. “So I’m guessing that’s not how it happened.”

Bill laughed. “You’re right about that. On the day of our reservation, Fleur wasn’t feeling very well. She said she’s rather stay in and order take away.”

“This is Fleur you’re talking about,” Ron mused as he took another sip of his Firewhiskey.

Bill laughed. “Yes. She’s never turned down a fancy restaurant before. Except for the one day I was planning on proposing to her at one.”

“So you didn’t propose that night?”

“Oh, I’m getting there. I had already spent money on the photographer, and I was on the hook for a minimum at the restaurant if we didn’t show. So I did everything I could to convince her to go.”

Ron looked hopeful. “Was it successful?”

Bill chuckled. “No. We got into a huge argument. She said I was being a bad boyfriend by insisting she go out when she’s not feeling well.”

“I know a thing or two about those kinds of rows,” laughed Ron. “What did you do?”

“We stayed in, ordered take away.”

Ron laughed. “So…then what happened?”

“Right. So we’re on the couch, eating our food, and we’d finally calmed down from our row. We’d both had a few glasses of wine at this point. I was torn between trying to reschedule everything to another weekend, so our proposal could be perfect, and just asking her right there.”

Ron looked at him expectantly. 

“She was sitting up and told me she wanted to go to bed, so I figured I had missed my chance. So we went up to bed, and I figured, hey, I didn’t propose, but I might as well get a good shag out of it—“

“Sure,” said Ron with a nod.

“So I start to follow her upstairs, but I was also slightly drunk, and on my way up the stairs, I tripped. 

Ron’s eyebrows shot up. “You tripped.”

“Yes, and I yelped in pain. Pretty sure I had sprained my ankle.”

“Ouch.”

“Yep. It get’s worse. Fleur said she wanted to see the sprain so she could help me with it, but she couldn’t roll up my trousers. So she took them off. Wasn’t how I had anticipated getting starkers with her that night, but oh well.”

Ron was failing to contain his laughter. 

“She took off my trousers, and guess what fell out of my pocket?”

“Oh no… the ring?”

“Yes. I tried to grab it before she could see, but she was quick. She opened the ring box and gasped. Then she asked me what I had planning to do with it. Cheeky.”

“So you proposed right then?”

Bill laughed. “I wish.”

Ron tilted his head. “So… how did you do it?”

“I told her that I was planning to propose, but I couldn’t do it anymore. My ankle was hurt and I couldn’t get down on one knee.”

“And what did she say to that?”

“A lot of things. She said that getting down on one knee was a pointless tradition, that there was no reason to wait, and that women could propose to men too.”

“She sounds like Hermione.”

Bill smiled. “What can I say, the Weasley men have good taste.” To that the brothers clanked their glasses together. 

“What happened next?’

“I think you can guess.” Bill smiled. “She got down on one knee, and asked me to marry her.”

Ron beamed. “I’m assuming you said yes.”

“Of course I did.” said Bill as he fiddled with his own wedding ring. “Then she put the ring directly onto her own finger.” He smiled softly. “It wasn’t what I planned, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I hope she helped heal your ankle.”

Bill grinned. “She did. Eventually…,” he added with a blush.

Ron laughed and smiled as he opened the ring box again. 

“I know my story probably didn’t make you feel less anxious about asking—“

Ron laughed. “Actually, it made me feel loads better. So thank you.” He snapped the ring box shut, and stood up. “She’ll come home tomorrow, I’ll just be starkers on the stairs, and I’ll ask her to marry me. She won’t be able to resist!”

“Prat.”

Ron smiled as he finished off the remainder of his whiskey. “But really. I still don’t know how I’m going to ask. Maybe the moment will just feel right.”

“Maybe.” said Bill. He smiled at his younger brother. Any doubts he had in Ron and Hermione’s relationship had been shattered by love and tenderness he had witnessed in this very cottage a few years ago, during the war. He had been expecting this moment to happen soon. 

In a different world, Bill might have poked fun at his brother for his vulnerability, but not tonight. “I’m happy for you, Ron.”

Ron smiled at him as he grabbed a handful of floo powder.

“Thanks Bill. But you might be saying that too soon. Haven’t asked yet.”

Bill wished his brother goodbye as the flames ignited. “Tell my future sister-in-law hello for me,” he said as Ron disappeared with a flash. 

He wasn’t speaking too soon. His little brother had grown up into a fine young man, and Hermione would be lucky to marry him. A smile formed on his face as he thought about how proud Ron made him. 

And then Bill made his way up the stairs to share with Fleur what he had just learned, and finally get that time alone. 


End file.
